Football down signal



, June 9, 1931.

s. MCMASTER 1,809,211

DOWN SIGNAL Filed Feb. 27, 1951 lumwmmu WMIHIJWWIME Y Patented June 9, 1931 UNITED STA SAMUEL BUCHANAN MCMAST'ER, or .c

FOOTBALL Down siGNA Application filed February 27, 1931., Serial No. 518,82

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a detailed ing particularly one of the latches; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing the central box-like member with the slides removed. 1

Referring to the drawings annexed by reference characters, 6 designates the usual staff which has affixed to it near its upper end a hollow box-like central member 7, the upper portion of this staff 6 extending up through this member to form a top handle 8. This central member 7 is desirably rec: tangular in shape to provide four vertical faces. Around the lower half of the central body 7 is arranged a row of numerals 1, I one numeral being on each face. The upper half of'the central member is provided with another row of numerals 4:, one digit being on each face. I

Slidably mounted on the rectangular cen tral member are three shields 9, 1,0 and 11, the two inner ones, 10 and 11 being adapted to telescope into the outer shield'9. These three shields are prevented from sliding oil' the ends of the central body 7 by means of a flange 12 at the upper end of the body and a similar flange 13 at the lower end of the body. These shields are mounted loosely on the body .and within themselves so as 5 of the shields is provided with an'upstandthe shield is dropped perspective View showcentral body. It I apparatus the-number of downs by the team holding, the ball will to gravitate toward the lower flange 13 when res PATENT] oFFIic E f.

OLUIVQIBIA, sou'rrr CAROLINA inghook-like finger piece le to enable the head-linesman toraise the shields convenientand to hold the-shields in raised position,

as shown in'Fig. 1', there is provided for each shield, on the top of the central member, a

latch bar 15 pivoted at 16 and actuated by a spring 17 to normally swing into a notch-18 formed in the upstanding hook member 14. When it is desired to dropany one ofthe shields the latch bar 15 is swung to one side out of engagement with the notch 18, and

on the lower flange 1 dropped only one by gravity until it rests 3. The shields can be by one, the outer one 9 first, the intermediate one 10 next, andfinaly the inner one numeral 8.

11, which latter bears the The manner of using the appliance is obvious to'one familiar with the game of football. At the outset, into play,

before the ball is put the linesman raises all'the shields,

as shownin Fig. 1, leaving exposed on the four sides of the central member the numeral 1. He leaves the parts in this positionuntil after the first down is made, and then he, drops the outer blank shield 9 so as to 'coverthe numerals 1 and expose the numerals 2 on the next inner shield,-10'; then after-the second down is made'he unlatches the shield 10 to permit it to drop intothe non-use position within the previously dropped shield -9, whereby the numerals 2* are coveredfrom sight ,then afterthe third down is made the linesman drops poses the numerals 4: wil this simple to be made the shield 11 andthus exon the top part of the 1 be observed that'by beplainly indicated not only to the players scattered over thefield but also to spectators in all directions, and that as the game progressesv the headshift the shield by the latches in success v In accordance with the provisions of the I have herein described the patent statutes,

linesman can readily simply releasing the on.

principle of operation of my invention, to-

gether sider to represent the best embodiments thereof, but I desire to have it understood with the apparatus which I .nowfconthat the apparatus disclosed is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means. Also, while it is designed to use the various features and elements in the combinations and relations described, some of these may be altered and others omitted and some of the features of each modification may be embodied in the others without interfering with the more general results outlined, and the invention extends to such use. For instance, it will be obvious that any other form of latching device may be employed.

r I claim:

1. A football down signal or marker embodying a staff, a central body member mounted on the staff, this body member being rectangular in horizontal section, and having a flange at its lower end and a flange at its upper end, the four faces of this central body member being provided around its lower portion with a row of numerals 1 and its upper portion being provided with a row of numerals 4, three rectangular shields slidably mounted on this central body member, the outer shield having its four outer faces blank and the two inner shields being pro-' vided respectively upon their four faces with the numerals 2 and the numerals 3, and means for holding each of the three shields in their upper position to thus obscure all the numerals except the row of numerals 1 on the central member, whereby the shields may be dropped one by one as the game progresses.

2. A football down signal or marker embodying a staff, a central body member mounted thereon, a series of telescoping shields mounted on said central body member, and latch-means for permitting the shields to be dropped or lowered one by one, said body member and shields being provided with numerals to indicate the number of downs to be made before losing the ball.

3. A football downmarker or signal em-- bodying a staff, a central body member mounted thereon, provided at its lower part with arrow of similar numerals and at its upperpart or zone with another row of different numerals, a plurality of shields mounted to telescope up and down on said member, the outer shield being unprovided' with numerals and the inner shields each being provided with a horizontal row of numerals, and means for holding all the shields in an up position to thereby expose only the numerals on the lower part of the main central member.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

SAMUEL BUCHANAN MoMASTER, 

